The Safety Net
by MerryBatGirl
Summary: Audrey has always known she belonged in Dauntless, despite being born in Candor, but her parents know that her lack of self-control and respect for authority will keep her from being accepted into that faction. After witnessing some brutal Erudite behavior, Jeanine Matthews offers her a deal: Her silence for a guarantee that Audrey passes Dauntless initiation.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This idea popped into my head as I was reading some other Divergent fanfics yesterday, and swam around my brain all night. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. Let me know what you think! I know I don't have much out right now, but I'm hoping to get another chapter out tonight.**

 **Just a couple of things before you start reading!**

 **1\. This will be an Eric X OC story, and will have the M rating for chapters that will come in the distant future.**

 **2\. It will take place after Eric and Four's initiation class, but before Tris' initiation class.**

 **3\. Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, just the plot and Audrey. This disclaimer will apply to the entirety of the story.**

* * *

If there was one phrase to describe me and my life, it would be this one: I was born Dauntless in Candor. It had been obvious from the moment I was able to walk and talk to not only my parents, but anyone who spent more than 10 minutes around me. And now, after spending 16 years in a faction that I never considered home, I would finally be able to go where I would truly belong.

Unfortunately, I'd gotten off to a rocky start. My aptitude test had gone just fine, giving me the result I had had no doubt I would receive. It was the walk back home that had been more problematic. I'd always liked walking outside, more so than being inside the clean and pristine white walls of Candor. So, instead of cutting through buildings back to my family's apartment, I took the long detour around all the skyscrapers. I'll admit, said detour included some sketchy alleyways. But I'd never had any trouble with this detour before, and assumed today would be no different. I was wrong.

The gravel crunched beneath my black and white converse. That sound along with my white blazer flapping in the wind, were the only sounds I could hear. The road was mostly empty, with most of the population either at the test center, or waiting at home for a loved ones' return from the test center. Aptitude test day was a big deal around here. I briefly wondered what it would be like to not know which faction to choose. I knew a couple of people that fell into that category. They liked their birth faction, but they weren't certain if that was where they wanted to spend their entire lives. I'm sure the 'what if's haunted them at night.

For me, on the other hand, there was never any question. It was always going to be dauntless. My parents disagreed, of course.

"They don't train rebels Audrey. They train soldiers, and you can't follow an order to save your life!" –My dad when I'd refused to attend the detentions assigned to me.

"They have a chain of command there too, you know, same as here. And if you can't respect it in your home faction, you sure as hell won't be able to in Dauntless." –My mom when I'd talked back to a professor.

"You need more than just an affinity for fighting to make it into Dauntless, Audrey! And by the time you realize that, it'll be too late to change your mind and you'll end up factionless. An embarrassment to this family, once again." –Both my parents when I'd gotten into yet another fight at school.

Needless to say, my parents and I didn't get along. They were both Candor born, and had never understood that I was not made to be in Candor. They just assumed I didn't try hard enough to fit in to Candor, and that if I just put in some effort, I could be happy here. There were right about one of those things though, I'd never tried to fit in, because I had no desire to.

Which brings us back to me happily making my way down the road, glad I'd gotten the result that would prove to my parents I really didn't belong in Candor. I stopped immediately when I heard the noise. It ha started out as the sound of a metal trashcan being pushed over, but finished off with some sort of groan. It was hard to make out, but definitely human. I frowned and listened harder, twisting my head around to pinpoint to source. I could only hear some shuffling, but it sounded frantic. But then I heard the distinct sound of fabric ripping and a muffled scream. Before I knew what I was doing, I bolted for the nearest alley on the right side of the road. When I got to the alley's entrance, I scanned the scene before me, which only provoked a sickening churn of my stomach content. Barely 30 feet in front of me, there was a man holding a woman bent over a pile of crates, her skirt ripped partially off. Her eyes found mine quickly, and the panic in her eyes was only emphasized by the amount of tears they were shedding. Her face was pushed down onto the wooden crate beneath her with half of the man's giant hand covering her mouth.

What happens next is something I can't put into words without difficulty. I'm not even certain of how I reached the man so quickly, but in what seemed like a fraction of a second, I'd grabbed the man by the back of his neck, my nails digging into his skin, and pulled him off her. With the element of surprise on my side, I landed several closed-fisted blows to his face before he even realized he had ended up with his back on the ground and me towering over him. Once he did though, he managed to throw his foot into my stomach, which barely registered. The state of rage I found myself in barely let me register anything at all, besides my fist landing in his face over and over again.

It wasn't until I myself was pulled back from him by my neck that I realized he was lying unconscious on the alley ground. My right fist was a mangled mess that was bleeding openly. I took a look at the person who'd pulled me back. The Dauntless woman was looking over the man I'd beaten to a pulp while several of her other Dauntless friends came over. When they arrived at the alley, they took a look at my outfit and frowned. I looked down and noticed I had a good amount of blood on my white shirt and blazer. Was that mine? I didn't recall him landing any punches.

"You're going to have to come with us." One of the Dauntless men told me. For once in my life, I didn't argue. He grabbed my upper arm and pulled me towards the main road. Before being pushed into a large black truck, I caught a glimpse of the woman I'd saved. She was curled up on the ground not far from where he'd been raping her. She was crying still, but managed to mouth the words 'thank you' in my direction before the vehicle door was slammed behind me.

And hour later, I found myself sitting at a metal desk, alone in some sort of interrogation room. My hand was haphazardly wrapped, and I'd been told I'd be directed to the infirmary after this. The woman who'd written down my statement concerning the whole ordeal had left over 20 minutes ago, and I was getting desperately bored. The questions had been straightforward, and I'd answered them with ease. But the entire time, I'd gotten the feeling they were trying to discredit me.

"What faction was the man from?" The Candor woman asked.

"Erudite." I responded.

"How can you be sure?"

"He was wearing a blue blazer." I told her with a sign as I ran my hands through my hair.

"Anyone can wear a blue blazer." I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"Well, unless he stole some of the laundry from Erudite, I think it's a pretty good assumption that he was from that faction." My response was heavy with sarcasm and irritation. Factions were strict about their dress code. I'd tried to sneak into my faction red socks when I was 14, and had gotten caught in barely 3 hours.

"And the woman?"

"Factionless. And before you ask, I knew that from her homeless appearance. Similar to yours, but not as white." She'd given me a good glare at that comment. Of course, despite my Candor origin, she knew I was lying for the sake of the insult. The woman had been wearing a multi layered, patched up skirt, a worn coat and fingerless gloves. No distinct color and every article of clothing tattered.

Another 15 minutes passed before the door to the room opened. My eyes snapped up and I sat up straight, ready to get the hell out of here.

Imagine my surprise when Jeanine Matthews walked in. I frowned, confused at why the leader of Erudite would matter with this issue.

"Audrey Rivers. You did a mighty brave thing today." She gracefully sat down opposite of me at the table. She looked so pristine. Not a hair out of place, not a single article of clothing misaligned.

"Thank you." I replied suspiciously. I'd never trusted her much, but that was probably my general issue with authority figures talking.

"I'm going to walk you through the events that took place today." She waited for me to respond, and when I didn't, she continued. "An Erudite man, a rather influential person in our factor, forced himself upon a Factionless woman. You intervened by pulling the man off the woman and proceeded to beat him within an inch of death." I could tell she was scanning my face with any reaction at that last part, but she would find none. I had no regret for what I'd done, nor do I wish I'd shown some restrain with him. "Dauntless patrol then pulled you off the man, probably saving his life in the process, and brought you here to get your statement on the matter. Does that sound accurate?"

"Yes." Of course she knew it was accurate. I wasn't sure what game she was playing, but I knew her being here was probably not a good thing.

"As the Erudite representative, I'd prefer this not to get out to the general public. This man involved was fairly high up in the Erudite chain of command, and it would reflect very poorly on the entire faction if it was to be known that he'd…" She paused for a moment, looking for the proper words, "assaulted a factionless."

"You mean raped a woman." She was purposely avoiding the word 'rape', even though that was clearly what he'd done. This made me mad. I understand the concept of loyalty to your faction and wanting to protect it, but I wouldn't let her censor this man's actions in front of me. Jeanine cleared her throat.

"Yes. Now, I've read your file." She slid a white folder on top of the table, which had my name inked along the top right corner. "Candor born, but with an obvious determination to join Dauntless." She opened the file and flipped through its numerous pages. "Countless fights, problems with authority, inability to show restraint when your temper flares up, and I could go on. I had someone talk with your parents just now. They've told you time and time again that you wouldn't make it in Dauntless due to your inability to take any type of command or criticism."

"Yes, they have."

"I would agree with them. Fighting is a big part of Dauntless, but control over yourself and the ability to find your place within a chain of command are big parts of it too, neither of which you really seem to have."

"Is there a point to this? My parents want me to stay in Candor, but what exactly is the point of _you_ telling me this?"

"I'm willing to offer you a deal." My eyebrows rose at that.

"What kind of deal?" I asked her, my interest peaked.

"You don't breathe a word of today's events to anyone. As far as anyone is concerned, you went straight home after your test with no problem."

"And the man?"

"He will be appropriately delt with." I wasn't sure I believed her.

"And if I do what you say…?"

"If you agree to these terms, I will ensure you pass Dauntless initiation." My jaw practically dropped.

"I'm not sure you have the authority to do that." I told her with a halfhearted chuckle.

"I do, actually. And if I'm lying and you end up factionless, you could always come out and tell the truth about today's events." I narrowed my eyes slightly. She didn't seem like the type of woman to trust anyone, but she was willing to risk such a scandal by trusting me? I was almost sure she was hiding something. Some kind of safety net she'd use against me later. But then I realized, did it matter at the moment? If I made it through initiation, I would have no reason to bring up what happened today, and everyone would be happy. And if I didn't make it through initiation and she tried to keep me quiet, well, it wouldn't matter what she did, because I'd already be factionless and would have nothing left to lose.

"Do we have a deal Ms. Rivers?" Her perfectly manicured hand reached out halfway towards me. I hesitated only a moment, before smirking and extending my hand out to meet hers.

"We do." And with that, Jeanine Matthews and I shook hands.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review to let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

My blood sizzles on the hot coals, and I don't need to turn around to see my parents have already left the room. I am honestly surprised they've come at all. The Dauntless cheer for me as I head to their section. I cannot keep this smile off my face. I've waited my whole life for this moment, and it's finally come. When my friend Henry's name is announced, I hold my breath to see which he will choose. He was one of the ones that was never quite sure which faction he belonged to. He'd confided in me that his test results showed Dauntless, which hadn't surprised me. He'd been my partner in crime for many years, but I know he had always loved and respected the Candor faction as a whole. He slides the knife along his palm and the blood started pooling. His eyes dart along the bowls. His lips set determinedly before he lets the blood fall into the Dauntless bowl. His face lights up and he turns towards the Dauntless section, which is now our section. I cheer louder than anyone and he hugs me hard when he reaches his seat. Ten minutes later, another Candor transfer makes her way to us. I don't know her personally, but from what I'd heard of her around Candor halls, she isn't someone I'm keen to befriend. Three more Candors transfer, but I don't know any of them at all.

The ceremony ends quickly afterwards, and as I'm filing out with my new faction, I catch a glimpse of Jeanine from across the room. Yesterday's parting words to me resonate in my head. _'Though I can promise your passing of initiation, you will need to at least make it convincing. I can't have anyone asking questions if you're clearly bottom of your class and yet still manage to get in'._ So basically, as long as I make a reasonable effort, I'm set. The instructor will only show favoritism towards me when it comes to ratings behind closed doors. I could work with that. I'd ace the combat portion and this deal would be my safety net with the other parts. It would probably also help get my ass out of trouble should I butt heads with someone. In the end, as long as I don't do anything outright stupid, I will have no issues. Knowing this takes the pressure right off. Meanwhile, I stare at a couple of the other transfers. The Amity transfers are sort of funny to watch. Some are clearly made to be in Dauntless, easily running alongside the train and throwing themselves on, while another hesitates. One Amity girl doesn't even make it onto the train. I almost feel sorry for her, but that feeling quickly leaves me as I realize we're meant to jump out of the train. While it's still moving. Maybe Jeanine figured I'd die before initiation was even over. I snort to myself, thinking that'd surely tie up all her loose ends.

"I'm glad we're in this together Audrey." Henry gives me a tight side hug with a large smile on his face. I realize how happy I am to have him with me at this moment. I know doing this alone would suck. "But I'm totally going to kick your ass in initiation." With that playful challenge, he pinches my ass and jumps out of the train. I follow him, trying hard to land on my feet. Unlike Henry, I don't quite land the way I planned. I scrape my knee and tear my white shirt's sleeve slightly. Otherwise, not too much damage. He, on the other hand, looks like he landed on a fucking cloud, with not a strand of hair out of place.

"No worries Kid, I'm sure you'll get a hang of it!" Henry offers me his hand with a smirk. I take it while giving him a glare, followed by a small slap to the back of the head once I find my footing.

We gather along with all the other Initiates in front of the ledge of the rooftop we're on.

"Gather around now Initiates, we don't have all day!" I'm in the back of the crowd, and can't really see who yelled out, but everyone's attention snaps to him instantly. I settle for listening to him, rather than trying to catch a glimpse of him over the crowd. He introduces himself as Eric and gives a very short speech about what having chosen Dauntless as our faction means, but honestly, I tune out for most of it. I only redirect my attention to him when he says our first step into the faction will be a step off the ledge. Everyone seems hesitant, there are even a few gasps heard. I just roll my eyes. Clearly, they aren't going to kill off an entire Initiate class, so there's either water or a net at the bottom. Anyone who doesn't realize that is an idiot, and anyone who thinks that the first to go is the bravest is naive.

Henry ends up going third, and gives me a small wink as he heads to the front of the group. I let the crowd thin out before deciding when I'll go. It isn't until the 16th person goes that I finally get a good glimpse of Eric, the man in charge. He's fairly tall, but built like a tank. His hair is shaved short on the sides and slicked back on top. I can't help but imagine how much hair gel he goes through in a month. The black block tattoos on both sides of his neck are meant to intimidate, I'm sure. That, along with the gauged ears and 2 black studs above his right eyebrow. He's attractive, that much is undeniable, but he seems to have a seriously bad attitude. With crossed arms, his impatience seems to grow with every initiate to jump off the roof. In that moment, I decide I will be the last to jump.

And finally, after 54 Initiates, it's finally my turn.

"Finally, last and probably least…" Eric practically spits at me. I bite back a smirk, knowing that I probably shouldn't try to get on his bad side so soon into the game. In the back of my mind though, I know him and I will butt heads on more than 1 occasion. I've always loved messing with people, and he seems to be easily ticked off.

I step up to the edge and look down into the back hole below me. Eric lets out a sigh of exasperation.

"If it's any motivation, Candor, the last to jump is usually the first to get kicked out." He looks at me with a fake, extra sweet smile. With that comment, I know he doesn't know who I am, leaving me to assume that Jeanine hasn't talked to him about our arrangement yet. I take a chance and assume she will soon, which provokes my response.

"Tell Jeanine I say hi." With that, I step off the ledge, but not before I see a moment of slight confusion flash across his face.

When I land, my first thought is to try my hardest not to get tangled. Ironically enough, it turns out safety nets aren't really my thing. Thankfully, there's a guy standing by to help the Initiates out of it. He addressed the group as a whole, letting us know his name is Four and that he is one of the Initiate trainers this year, along with Eric. Eric, it turns out, is in charge of the combat portion of the training. Four takes over once the combat portion is over. This strikes me as a good thing. I don't imagine I'll need Jeanine's influence until the combat portion is over, and Four seems less likely to give me a hard time. I'm assuming Jeanine will talk to the Dauntless leaders and her instructions will trickle down the chain of command down to Four and Eric.

Of course, I realize I'm making a lot of assumptions. But I trust Jeanine enough to believe she will follow through with her end of the deal. If she wasn't willing to, she wouldn't have approached me in the first place. Of course, if she was lying about the whole thing, I'm going to end up looking like a major idiot…but I'll take my chances.

Next, we're escorted to the lodging area, where we're informed all of the transfers will be staying, regardless of gender. That's not much of a concern for me. That is, until I see the showers. I roll my eyes and try to ignore the comments a few of the guys make. Next is the Pit, which seems like more of the hangout spot than anything else. In the pit, we're given our new Dauntless clothes. They're pretty basic for the most past. I slip on my new skin tight black pants and choose my size out of the combat boots row, then grab a black tank top with a black zip-up to slip on over it. After we're done changing, each one of us throws our old clothes into the fire. I think it's supposed to symbolize our old life quite literally going up in flames. It mostly just seems like a waste of resources to me, but oh well.

We end up in the cafeteria just in time for dinner when Four releases us. At first, the group doesn't really move at all. But slowly, several of us branch off into group, mostly depending on which factions people came from. Most of the transfers are Erudite with 13 transfers, then Candor with 6 of us total, and Amity and Abnegation with 2 each (not including the girl that didn't even make it onto the train). The other 31 Initiates are Dauntless born and will be trained separate from us. Henry and I grab some food and sit at a mostly empty table. We're quickly joined by a handful of people that seem to have broken off the main Erudite group.

"Hey, you guys are Candor, right?" The girl who sits down first is short and slender, but clearly is the most outgoing. Henry and I nod. "Cool, I'm Laurel. This is Evan, Michael, Charlotte, and Kaylee. We're Erudite." She points to the respective person with each new name. I've pretty much forgotten the names the second she's done introducing them.

"I'm Henry, this is Audrey. Good to meet you guys!" I give everyone a polite smile and everyone smiles back. They seem nice enough.

"Audrey, I think I've heard of you recently actually." The blood in my face drains as Laurel looks at me expectantly. There is no way she'd heard of what happened test day. I hadn't told a single soul, not even Henry. My mind raced a million miles a minute, thinking of how Jeanine would react if what happened got out. Surely, she'd get me immediately thrown out of Dauntless, right? If she had the authority to keep me in, she must have the authority to throw me out. Before I could think about the consequences of that any longer, Laurel continued. "Weren't you one of the ones who duct taped that Erudite boy to the light pole a couple of weeks ago?" Henry's sudden laughter rang loudly next to me before he answered for me.

"That WAS Audrey! What was the kid's name Audrey? Miles?" He turned towards me, and I couldn't help but smile at the memory. Miles was one of the major Erudite bullies, and after I'd caught him picking on a younger kid in his faction, Henry and I had taken it upon ourselves to show him he wasn't so big and bad after all.

"It was indeed Miles. Which you should know Henry, you helped!"

"Yes, but only you got caught. So really, it's almost like I wasn't involved at all." The other girl at the table, Charlotte I think it was, gave us both a high five.

"That guy is a total dick, so kudos to you both."

"I had to do so much detention for that." I set my cheek on my palm and my elbow on the table as I reminisced.

"No, you were assigned so much detention for that. You barely did half."

"Yea, they were surprisingly lenient with me that time."

"Only cause they knew you'd leave the faction in a couple of weeks and didn't want to bother." Henry and I had a good laugh before we attacked the plates in front of us.

After dinner was over, the newfound little group started heading back to the dormitories. Half way there, we passed Eric. I didn't think much of it, till he grabbed my elbow and spun me around to walk with him back the direction in which we'd all come from.

"With me, Initiate." Eric uttered loud enough for the rest of my group to hear and keep walking, even after noticing I'd been pulled away. Eric wasn't someone they wanted to cross, understandably so. Eric let go of my arm but kept walking. Several turns later, we found ourselves in a dark empty hallway. He stopped and turned towards me, arms crossed.

"I'm not sure what you and Jeanine have worked out amongst yourselves, but I don't much like being told to show favoritism. Especially not to a scrawny Initiate like you." Part of me worried he would disregard Jeanine's authority. "It is very important to me that you understand something. I will not, under any circumstance, have anyone questioning my training ability, and especially not my rating ability. I've been told to ensure your success through initiation. Fine." Suspicion in me grew at that. He stepped closer to me until he towered over me, looking down his nose at me with a sneer. I fought back the need to swallow hard. "That only means I will push you twice as hard as everyone else. I will force you to become good enough to pass initiation, whether you want to or not." With that, he stepped past me, knocking into my shoulder hard, and walked away.

I had figured Jeanine's deal would take the pressure off my shoulders and that I'd be able to get by with minimal effort. This interaction with Eric had just confirmed that I'd been terribly wrong.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review :]**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, here is chapter 3! A bit longer than the first two. I'm hoping to get at least 1 other super long chapter out by the end of the week. Please let me know how you like it!**

* * *

"What was all that about?" Henry asked Audrey the second she arrived back to the dormitories.

"Oh nothing, Eric just already hates me. Nothing too surprising." She replied nonchalantly, though inside, she was quite anxious about the extra work she knew Eric would make her do. Surely he couldn't kick her out if she wasn't able to handle it all, right?

"Why does he hate you already? Audrey, what did you do?" Henry asked with a smirk.

"Nothing! I think it's just because I was last jumper. Probably assumes right off the bat that means I'm useless in Dauntless."

"Why did you jump last? Afraid of heights?" Charlotte asked me, curious.

"No, I just got too lazy to volunteer and next thing I knew I was the last one up there." She lied effortlessly. Audrey was always quite good at lying, yet another thing that showed her she wasn't born for Candor.

"Well, if I were you, I'd do my best to get in Eric's good graces, I've heard he's no one to mess with." This time, it was Laurel who spoke. She'd chosen the bed in the middle of the room. Henry had saved Audrey a bed between his and hers. Laurel continued speaking. "So, while you were off getting verbally reamed by Eric, you missed Four explaining some stuff."

"Oh? Anything important?"

"Yea, just the basics. Training starts at 6am tomorrow. We also all get a certain amount of points per month to spend. There's a floor of stores and stuff like that below this floor. We were actually thinking of heading there to check it out now."

"Count me in, I'm more than ready to Dauntless up a bit." Audrey responded as she twirled a piece of her hair around her fingers. Henry smiled at her, knowing full well what she had in mind.

Less than 30 minutes later, their group found themselves a floor below amongst the shops. Audrey headed straight to get her hair cut, and Henry followed her.

"Finally going to go through with it, huh?" He teased her

"Hey, I was always going to go through with it, I just always got caught before I got a chance to." Audrey defended. She'd never been very good at being sneaky.

"What can I do for you Kid?" Audrey turned towards the voice, a late 20's woman with purple hair standing there, wiping her hands off on her pants.

"I need a haircut." Audrey said with determination.

"I'm gonna need you to be more specific than that." The woman laughed and motioned for Audrey to sit in the chair. "Anything particular in mind?"

"Yes. I'd like you to shave the left side of my head."

"You sure?" The woman asked with a smile. It was fairly common for the Initiates to come down here with some dramatic change in mind.

"Positive." Henry took a seat next to Audrey.

"Audrey here has been trying to do this for years. Unfortunately, every time she got hold of clippers, she got caught and they got taken away. Her parents even had to start keeping the scissors in a locked drawer." He explained to the woman, who seemed thoroughly amused.

"Well Audrey, my name is Lillian, and as your hairstylist today I can reassure you you've got the face shape for this type of hair style." Lillian pulled out hair clippers and turned back to Audrey. "How short are you thinking on the side?"

"Not to the scalp, maybe about half an inch long?" Audrey looked at herself in the mirror, barely able to hold in her excitement. She'd always had pretty hair; it was a dark brown color with slight waves that almost reached her waist. She'd gotten the idea to shave the left side of her head about a year ago, but her parents had been so firmly against it. Audrey made a couple of attempts over the years, but none that had every worked.

"Works for me. Ready?"

"Ready." Audrey did her best not to wiggle in her chair as the clippers starting chipping away at her long hair. Ten minutes later, Henry whistled at Audrey.

"I'm not going to lie, that looks pretty kickass Audrey."

"Yea?" Audrey asked, running her hand over the side of newly trimmed hair.

"Oh yea."

"Audrey! Henry!" Both of them looked over to Laurel, who was waving at both of them frantically from the entrance of the shop.

"Damn." Both of them whispered as they took in her 2 new lower lip piercings.

"Come on! We're getting tattoos next!" She waved them over enthusiastically, which made Henry chuckle a bit.

"Alright, go on and pay Audrey, and we'll go join them." Audrey gave Lillian her name, allowing the proper amount of points to be deducted before she and Henry headed over to where Laurel and the rest of the group were. Sure enough, they were in the tattoo parlor line.

"I don't know about you Henry, but I think I've made enough drastic appearance changes for 1 evening. I'm gonna pace myself a bit."

"Haha, fair enough. I don't think I'll be getting anything either to be honest."

In the end, Laurel and Michael had been the only ones to get tattoos. Afterwards, they headed back to their beds, anxious for the training the morning was going to bring.

Audrey found herself groaning at the alarm. No one was really sure where it was coming from, but it rang exactly at 5:30am for only 10 loud rings before stopping. It left them all with 30 minutes to grab a muffin from the cafeteria because getting their asses to the training rom.

A few minutes before 6, they all filed into the training room, noticing the mat in the middle and the punching bags around the room. Eric was already waiting (AKA glaring), standing in the middle of the center mat.

"This morning, we'll be learning the basics of fighting. This part will be go by quickly, we won't spend more than a couple days on it. But it's the foundation you will build the rest on. Make sure it's solid or you will fall behind fast." Audrey rolled her eyes at Eric's words. ' _Always with the encouragement that one_ ', she thought to herself. Thankfully, she knew this part would be easy for her. She had lost count of how many times she'd snuck into the Erudite library and rented out books on the basics of hand-to-hand combat. Needless to say no one there ever rented out those ones, so she'd been able to keep them (hiding them from her parents of course) for quite a bit of time. She'd even rented private workout rooms in the Candor Gym to practice for months. Candors were serious about staying healthy and in shape, so no one ever suspected Audrey of using the room to practice her fighting.

"But first! I want everyone to run laps until I tell you to stop." Eric shouted at them. Almost instantly, all the Initiates started jogging around the room. Audrey and Henry found themselves in the middle of the group. Not the fastest, but not the slowest either.

After about 15 minutes, the jogging mass had spread out a bit, the slower people got a lot slower, and the fast ones kept up their pace. Audrey had never been one for cardio, and Henry had gone on ahead of her slightly. They kept running for another 5 minutes before Eric shouted again.

"Alright, fall in Initiates!" Audrey let out a sigh of relief. "Not you Rivers. You keep running. But pay attention to what I'll be saying." He smirked at her confused expression.

"Seriously?" She asked, trying to keep the attitude from her tone. Eric didn't respond, just glared at her until she resumed her jogging. Which she did, swearing under her breath at him when she picked her pace back up.

As she ran countless more laps around the room, she tried to focus on what Eric was telling the rest of the class. As far as she could hear, he was just going through the basics of fighting, like stance, balance, how to throw a proper punch and kick, and more. All things she already knew, thankfully. When he dismissed the group, everyone paired up and headed to a bag. Audrey slowed down to join them.

"Did I tell you to stop running?"

"Well no, but I figured-" Eric cut her off.

"You figured wrong. You run, until I tell you otherwise. Got it?" It took everything in Audrey's power to not blow up in that instant. Instead, she picked up the jogging once more.

"I said, GOT IT?!" He yelled after her. Despite her common sense, she refused to turn around, choosing to throw up a middle finger over her shoulder instead. She didn't turn around to look at his face, but she assumed it was twisted with hatred for her in that moment. Thankfully, none of the other Initiates had noticed. She figured it would make things a lot worse for her if her disrespect of him was publically witnessed.

Audrey couldn't believe it. He had had her run for 3 hours. Three. Whole. Hours. When he finally told her to stop, Audrey was a beet red, sweaty, barely able to breathe mess.

"Alright Initiates, time to pair up and practice for real!" At first, Audrey had figured Henry would offer to be her partner, but when she approached him, he'd thrown his hands up, palms facing her.

"Sorry Kid, I'd rather not get my ass kicked in front of Eric." Henry winked at her and walked over to Laurel, who agreed to pair up with him.

"Need a partner?" Audrey turned towards Michael. He was part of their group of friends, but she hadn't talked to him much. He was quiet, for the more part.

"You sure? I have some fighting experience."

"And I grew up for 4 older brothers. I can handle my own, I promise." Michael gave her a genuine smile.

"Alright, you asked for it." She responded playfully.

Because it was just practice, Michael and Audrey went easy on each other, matching the pace of the other Initiates who'd had little to no fighting experience. But it was easy for Eric to see they were both holding back.

"Rivers! Halsworth!" Eric yelled. Michael jumped at the sound of his voice. Audrey, on the other hand, just shut her eyes tightly, whispering the word 'fuck' to herself before turning around to face Eric alongside Michael.

"Seems like you both have some experience with this. Why don't you step into the ring and show the class what you've got?" Eric's smile was the kind that made you afraid of what came next. It was sarcastic, and sort of scary. A little bit sexy too, in Audrey's opinion, but that was beside the point. Audrey and Michael looked at each other, worried they'd offend the other if they fought too harshly. Regardless, they both stepped into the ring while the other Initiates gathered around.

"You'll fight until one of you," Eric's eyes landed on Audrey, " is no longer able to fight. No conceding." Audrey wasn't surprised at Eric's words. He wasn't the type to give anyone an easy out. She turned towards Michael and gave him a 'friends despite what's about to happen?' smile and shrug. He responded with the same expression before they both took their stance.

The second the match started, Michael threw his fist forward, hoping to catch Audrey off guard. Thankfully, she had good reflexes and dodged easily. Retaliating immediately afterwards, she threw her heel in his gut, effectively knocking the wind out of him. It didn't incapacitate him for as long as she'd hoped however, and he charged at her full speed. Michael was pretty fast for someone who was over 6 feet tall, but Audrey's 5'7" frame was faster, and she ducked under his left arm. He stumbled forward and whipped around the face her.

"Today, Initiates!" Eric was not a patient man when it came to watching fights. Audrey looked at him, and could tell he was just waiting for her to get her ass handed to her. In that moment, she decided she'd hold nothing back from this fight. Not because she wanted to beat Michael that badly, but because she wanted to see Eric's expression when she won by a landslide. Unfortunately, her moment of distraction was cut short by Michael's shoulder hitting her stomach as he slammed her to the ground. _Alright, play time is over for us both then_ , Audrey thought to herself. In quick succession, Audrey threw her elbow in his temple, pushed him far enough off of her to wrap both her legs around his neck. Audrey knew she had less upper body strength than Michael, but her thighs were the strongest part of her body. Michael knew right away she would attempt to make him pass out this way, and threw both his fists into her ribcage. Unfortunately, he was already feeling the effects of the oxygen restriction, and Audrey easily blocked all his punches. His punches to her thighs though, she couldn't block, and the muscles that already hated her for all the jogging screamed in additional pain. Fortunately though, it wasn't long before Michael slumped onto her, passed out. Once he did, she unwrapped her thighs from his neck and pushed his body off hers. A small round of applause sounded from the crowd, surprised that she'd been the winner.

Audrey had been right though. The look on Eric's face was worth any bit of anger Michael might feel towards her afterwards. It was a mix between surprise and anger. Mostly anger. Clearly he hadn't read her Candor file like Jeanine had. Audrey threw him an innocent smile before walking over to Henry, who threw his arm around her.

"For a second there, I thought you were gonna go easy on him!"

"Well I might have, had Eric not been watching." She whispered back to him.

"Wise choise." Henry whispered back.

"Initiates! Lunch break! You will return here in an hour." Everyone happily made their way to the door, along with Evan and Charlotte carrying a semi awake Michael with them. When Audrey neared the door, however, Eric spoke again. "Not you Rivers. You will jog for another 30 minutes. Then, you can go to lunch." Henry, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, slipped his arm off Audrey and walked out, mouthing a quick 'sorry' before leaving.

"Excuse me? You can't do that." Audrey threw at Eric, arms crossed.

"I can. And unless you want to keep jogging alone after lunch, you'll follow orders." He responded sternly, and left. Audrey felt conflicted. He'd left, so clearly he wouldn't know if she kept running for the next 30 minutes or not. But for all she knew, he'd return to check up on her. Did she want to risk it? She sure as hell didn't want to run that afternoon. So, trying to keep her temper in check, she starting jogging around the room once more.

Thirty minutes later, she finally joined the others in the cafeteria. Even Michael was with them. As Audrey sat down next to Henry, she threw Michael an apologetic smile.

"No hard feelings?" She asked him. He chuckled as he rubbed his neck.

"None. To be fair, you did try to warn me. And besides, here I thought I wasn't gonna have any real competition." Although he sounded slightly bitter, Audrey chose to ignore it and simply smiled genuinely at him. Everyone turned back towards their lunch and finished up their plates while Audrey started hers.

After lunch, Eric led them outside, where he instructed them to jog once more. Audrey almost lost her shit at that point.

"Thought you said we weren't jogging this afternoon…" She grumbled as she past him.

"I said you weren't jogging alone this afternoon." He replied with a cruel smile.

The group jogged around the compound several times before heading back inside to the weight room. This afternoon, they were to focus on muscle building. Eric walked them through the various machines and weight racks before releasing them. The girls seemed to particularly go for leg machines while the guys went straight for upper body ones. Audrey decided to do the reverse, wanting to focus on her problem areas, her arms, since it wasn't like she was trying to impress Eric anyways. Surprisingly enough, Eric let Audrey do the same as everyone else rather than singling her out.

After about an hour of switching around machines, Eric grabbed everyone's attention once more.

"Alright Initiates, line up on the floor!" He yelled, his voice resonating throughout the room. Everyone sat in a line on the ground, which was thankfully matted.

"Sit-ups. Start now." In unison, the group started their sit-ups. Audrey was thankful this was something she was quite familiar with. Cardio she hated, but sit-up she could handle quite well. Which she realized she was extremely grateful for once she saw how Eric reacted to the first girl who couldn't do sit-ups any longer.

"Is that all you've got Initiate? Seriously?" She didn't respond, just kept her eyes staring at Eric's shoes. "That's utterly pathetic. It's been barely 3 minutes." The poor girl had her elbows hooked around her knees to keep her upright, and it looked like she was going to start crying. Unfortunately for her, Eric noticed. He crouched in front of her. "If I see a single tear drop from your eyes, I will personally kick you out of Dauntless." He stayed there for about 30 seconds, staring at her, daring her to start crying. I breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't and he stood back up, walking up and down the line like previously. "Go sit on the other side of the room Initiate." He commanded her, and she moved to the other side of the mat. The rest of them continued the sit-ups. The second girl to give up wasn't embarrassed as badly, just ferociously yelled at to get out of the line and join the first girl. One by one, people stopped being able to continue. It wasn't until 10 minutes in that he stopped yelling. Instead he just stopped in front of the Initiate until he or she got out of line.

Finally, there were just 3 of them left. Henry had stopped a short time before, and only Audrey and 2 guys were left. Her abdominal muscles were screaming at her, but she wouldn't give up until she absolutely had too. Unfortunately, she didn't last much longer, and a few sit-ups later, her abs totally gave out and she collapse onto her back, breathing hard.

"Shocker. Join the others." Eric sneered at her because moving aside to pay attention to the 2 guys left. Audrey ignored his comment and sat down next to Henry, who gave her a reassuring smile. Not long after Audrey had sat down, one of the boys, Richard, was named the last one standing. Since they were about an hour away from the end of the day, his reward was that he would be dismissed 10 minutes earlier than the rest. The rest of the day was filled with more muscle building exercises, with Eric walking around telling Initiates what they were doing wrong. Just when Audrey was sure she could no longer move a single muscle, time was up, and Eric dismissed them.

"I will see you all at 6am tomorrow! Except you Rivers, I will see you at 5:30am." Eric fake smiled at her, knowing how torturous this was for Audrey. She just stared at him, thinking of all the ways she could kill him, while other passed her on their way out the door, patting her sympathetically on the back as they did so.

Once they all sat for dinner, they acknowledged Eric's particular dislike for Audrey.

"I don't know what you did Audrey, but I feel seriously bad for you." Admitted Laurel.

"Maybe he sees potential in you and that's why he pushed you harder than the rest of us?" Charlotte offered, trying to be helpful.

"Or maybe he just hates you because of some smartass comment I'm sure you've made to him by now." Henry knew Audrey well, that was for sure. Audrey, being mid chew, simply tapped her nose twice and pointed at Henry, to which he smirked. Finally, she swallowed.

"All I want is to crawl into bed and be done with today."

"Before we get to start it aaaallllll over again tomorrow! Yay!" Laurel's fake enthusiasm made the entire group laugh.

It wasn't until they were making their way back to their dormitories that Audrey ran into Four.

"Audrey, I was hoping I'd run into you."

"Oh? What can I do for you?"

"Nothing. I've just heard Eric has been particularly hard with you today. I just wanted to let you know he almost always does this. Focus his wrath on one particular Initiate, I mean. Don't worry, it'll pass eventually and he'll move on to the next poor soul." Four smiled at her reassuringly, but Audrey knew better.

"Something tells me he won't, but thanks anyways." She smiled back at him before jogging back to her group. That night, she fell asleep quicker than she ever had in her entire life.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review! Keeps me on top of my updates :]**


	4. Chapter 4

**Managed to get another short one in before bedtime! Not much happening here. I'm mostly trying to set the stage before I get into the plot of the story. Let me know how you guys like it!**

* * *

Audrey had slept soundlessly through most of the night. Unfortunately, she'd woken up at 4:30am and for the life of her could not fall back asleep. Finally, seeing her cheap digital watch said 4:52am, she decided to get up. She swung by the cafeteria to grab a muffin and had finished it by the time she got to the training room. It was now 5:00am. Knowing Eric wasn't supposed to be there for another 30 minutes, she decided to start her jogging, hoping it would warm her up before he would inevitable make her run more. She figured the more running she did, the quicker she would get used to it. Besides, maybe he'd be impressed with her initiative and would back off a bit. Unlikely, but possible. She ran for about 15 minutes, and then did several minutes of sit-ups and push-ups before returning to her laps. Just before 5:30am, she stopped and grabbed her water bottle. Eric walked in just as she starting gulping it down. He raised an eyebrow at her sweatiness and briefly wondered how long she'd been in here.

"You obviously have fighting experience, but you're still an amateur." Eric told her, heading to the center mat. She followed him after putting her water down. "Your stance is about right, but you're distracted. You're not paying attention to your opponent."

"Is that really a fair assessment of me when you've only seen me fight one person?"

"Yes." He curtly responded with a glare. He took a fighting stance and she followed suit. "Now, in a proper fight, you should be able to sense when your opponent is about to make his or her next move. With Halsworth, you got lucky that you have more fighting experience than him. Fighting against someone with at least your level of skill, you wouldn't have lasted more than a couple of seconds. You were caught off guard by every move he made, you were just able to avoid it every time. You're Dauntless now, avoiding should never be your go-to." With the ending of that sentence, Eric threw a punch at Audrey, and barely missed by a millimeter. She'd been able to feel his fist barely graze her skin. "That punch was slowed down by about a quarter of my speed. Next time, I won't be so nice." _Right_ , Audrey thought, _this is you being nice_. They moved around each other for a few seconds before Eric let out a curt sigh. "Are you going to dance around all day or actually charge at me?"

"I'm not going to charge at you."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're expecting it." With that, Eric snorted but didn't respond. Instead, he charged at her. Managing to grab her around the neck, he slammed her back to the ground.

"You seem to end up on your back a lot Rivers." He teased, clearly referring to her fight with Michael. Audrey knew she wouldn't be able to beat Eric the way she beat Michael, so she adjusted her tactics. Instead of using her legs, she threw the side of her hand into his throat. The blow made Eric choke and loosen his grip on her neck for only a second. Thankfully, it was enough for Audrey to slip her hand under one of his fingers around her neck and pull back. With a grunt of pain, Eric pulled his hand back, leaving Audrey the chance to escape from under him.

"Those are some cheap moves Rivers."

"Whatever works." She responded with a shrug. This time, even though she knew he'd be expecting it, she charged him. He easily deflected the charge and grabbed one of her arms, twisting it backwards behind her. She let out a colorful cuss word as he pushed her to her knees, holding her elbow high behind her.

"Eric," She groaned through her teeth, "you'll break my shoulder."

"Well, then I guess you're lucky I'm so _nice_." With that, her let go of her arm and threw her forward.

"What is your problem?" Audrey demanded as she rubbed her shoulder, still on the ground. He towered over her. "Clearly, you don't want to be forced to keep me in Dauntless if I don't deserve to be here, but I obviously have the skills I need to get by just fine. So why are you so adamant on pushing me so hard?"

"I think you're a coward."

"Why? Cause I saw an opportunity to get ahead and I took it?"

"I think you're lazy, and I won't tolerate that. Tell me, how exactly did you manage to arrange that deal with Jeanine?" Eric demanded curiously. Audrey resisted the urge to smirk. _So, Jeanine didn't tell him the details then_ , she thought.

"If I told you, it'd defeat the point of a deal in the first place." That was all Audrey was willing to give him. "But if it makes any difference, I chose Dauntless the day I learned what factions were. I want to be here. I chose this faction before I ever made that deal with Jeanine. The deal was just a safety net. Having it doesn't make me a coward, it makes me smart."

"It'll make you comfortable with slacking. I won't allow that from any of my initiates. Now jog until the others arrive." With that, Eric walked out of the training room. Audrey sighed, and laid back on the mat, staring up at the ceiling.

"NOW, RIVERS!" His voice echoed through the room, making Audrey jump.

"Okay! Okay! Jeez…" She then started her jogging around the room.

Once the other Initiates filed in, the day started. It went by just like the previous day, only Eric didn't make Audrey fight anyone one-on-one for real. There was still a lot of jogging alone though, much to her disappointment. Audrey noticed the other Initiates were getting more comfortable fighting. She was fortunate that it'd be a long time before she wasn't at least 3 steps ahead of any one of them. She knew Eric had been right though, once they reached her level, she'd be in trouble for sure. She just wasn't sure how to improve at this point. Fighting anyone else would be too easy. The only people she'd be given a challenge with were Michael and Eric. And she didn't particularly want more one-on-one 5:30am sessions with Eric. When she looked over at him showing some guy how to throw a proper punch, she noticed the way his biceps flexed and twisted. A voice in the back of her mind whisper, ' _Although, maybe you do…_ '

The day went by slowly, due to everyone's muscle soreness from the previous day's overuse of them. Eric stayed very unsympathetic to them all. By the time training let out for the day, Audrey thought she'd never be able to wake up for the sleep she was going to have that night.

"Audrey! Audrey, Audrey, Audrey!" Laurel bounced up and down excitedly. _How is she even moving so much right now?_ Audrey wondered, impressed. "There's drinking in the Pit tonight! You'll come right?"

"Oh, I don't think so, I just want to crawl into bed." Unfortunately, Henry had other plans for her.

"Nonsense! Audrey will be there with bells on!"

"Oh yay!" Laurel bounced off, leaving Audrey to slap Henry on the chest.

"Why would you tell her that? I really do not want to go."

"The Audrey I knew would never turn down a party!" He answered dramatically.

"The Audrey you knew didn't work out this much, and wasn't this sore. She didn't want to sleep this much. I want to sleep Henry. Really bad." She was practically whining at this point.

"Then just go for a little bit. If you don't have any fun, you can always leave."

"Fiiiiine." She gave in. They'd finally arrived back to their dormitories. Yesterday, they'd decided the girls would shower first, then the guys. Today was less organized. No one wanted to wait. So instead, the boys just showered in their boxers and the girls in underwear. Henry stripped his shirt, socks and pants before grabbing one of the showers. Audrey followed him, ending up in only black boy shorts and a grey sports bra. Letting the cold water rush over her, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. Knowing others were waiting for the shower, she quickly used her bar of soap to wash away the sweat. She'd almost finished washing the shampoo out of her hair when she heard a girl scream. Her eyes flung open, searching for the source. Instead of finding the source, her eyes had landed on the reason.

"Oh god my eyes!" Audrey flung her hand over her eyes, but alas, it was too late. The boy's less than impressive genitals were forever burned into her eyelids.

"What's wrong ladies? Don't like what you see?" Audrey didn't know the boy's name, but at this point she didn't care to learn it. When she opened her eyes again, she saw him chasing a girl out of the showers, waving his privates around. She almost gagged.

"See, told you guys I'd make room for you." The boy's friends laughed and grabbed the showers that had been vacated by the girls who'd run out. Audrey couldn't believe the level of immaturity the boys showed. Henry on the other hand, just wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh. Once done with her shower, she turned the water off and left to go dry off, ignoring the several glances her body got on the way out.

* * *

The parties at Dauntless were nothing like the Candor parties, that much was for damn sure. The center of the Pit was a huge mass of dancing bodies. Everyone had a drink in hand, somehow managing to dance without spilling anything. The loud music drowned out any other sound around, and Audrey could feel the bass pulsating through her. She'd chosen to skip the dancing, opting to drink her cup sitting on a ledge next to a stairway, her arms and chin resting on the lowest rail of the stairs.

"Not partaking in the festivities?" Audrey turned to see Four crouching next to her.

"My legs are a bit dead today, and I don't think any amount of alcohol will revive them unfortunately." She joked with him.

"Was today better with Eric at least?"

"Barely. I think he just wants to make sure I don't slack."

"Why would he think you would?"

"Cause apparently he knows me pretty well." Aubrey jokes and smiled at Four.

"Well, let me know if he gives you too hard of a time. I can always have Max speak with him."

"I think I'll be okay, but thank you."

"Enjoy the party, Audrey." With that, Four was off as quickly as he'd arrived. Audrey turned back to the party to people-watch. Her eyes roamed over the crowd. She smiled as she saw Henry and Laurel with the rest of the group dancing near the edge of the crowd. Henry was not a good dancer to say the least, which made her giggle quite a bit. Her eye snapped to the area around the crowd. There were a handful of wallflowers like her, but most were in small groups of friends who seemed to enjoy the alcohol and music more so than the dancing. It wasn't until Audrey looked up that she saw Eric leaning against a bridge railing above the Pit. He, much to her surprise, had a cup in hand, which he was in the process of finishing up it seemed. Once he drank the last of his drink, he looked back down, locking eyes with Audrey. She resisted the urge to avert her eyes. This was neutral territory, and he couldn't make her run laps here just because she'd looked at him for an amount of time longer than what he deemed acceptable. Seeing that she wasn't breaking eye contact, he crushed the cup in his hands and walked off. _How very Eric of him_ , she thought. She briefly wondered if she was supposed to meet him early again tomorrow morning…

"5:00am tomorrow Rivers." Audrey jumped about a foot in the air when she heard Eric's voice coming from the hall behind her, effectively making her knock the top of her head into the middle rail.

"What the f-" Eric was gone before she even got a chance to finish her sentence. She rubbed at the quickly appearing lump on her head. _What a fucking creeper, what is he, telepathic?_

* * *

 **Don't forget to review! :]**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it's short, I haven't had a whole lot of free time lately. But it's something, right? Not much happens, I'm still trying to figure out where to take this story, but I figure if I don't get back in the swing of writing, it'll just never happen. So I'm trying!**

 **Let me know what you guys think. Nothing motivates me to update more than happy reviews!**

* * *

The next morning, Audrey found herself at 4:57am in the training room, sitting on the floor mat and stretching. She'd been grateful that she hadn't gotten drunk like everyone else last night. Judging from the way they all stumbled in around 2am, they'd all be regretting their choice this morning.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open then closed again as Eric walked in.

"I half expected you to be hungover." He told her with a smirk.

"Drunkenness and sore legs don't mix. Wouldn't want to fall down into the Chasm." Audrey replied as she finished up her stretches and stood up.

"Yes, that'd be a shame." Audrey smiled at his heavy sarcasm. Eric's almost playful demeanor surprised her.

"Five minutes of jogging, go." _Huh_ , Audrey thought, _only five minutes? He IS in a good mood today…_

After Audrey finished her running, she met him in the center of the mat. He stood there with his arms hanging loosely beside him, just staring at her for a few seconds. And then those seconds stretched…Audrey's eyes shifted around awkwardly, waiting for him to say something.

Then Eric's hard fist connected painfully with her jaw, sending her tumbling backwards to the ground.

"What the fuck Eric!?" _So much for him being in a good mood!_ The thought that the good mood was due to him knowing he was going to get to punch her in the face did cross her mind, however.

"You're slow and unfocused. Two of the most detrimental qualities in a fight. Sit." Eric sat cross legged on the mat and looked at Audrey expectantly as he gestured to the mat in front of him. Instead of sitting, she stood and glared at him, breathing heavily through her nose in an effort to keep herself from tackling him and throwing a few punches of her own. She rubbed at her very, very sore jaw. Finally, she mirrored him and sat on the floor. Sitting cross-legged face to face had their knees almost touching, a fact that Audrey was trying very hard to ignore. Again, he just stared at her without talking. This time, she held his stare, unwilling to deal with another punch to the face.

Unfortunately, even fully focused, Audrey wasn't able to avoid the light slap to the temple from Eric. It wasn't hard, not meant to really hurt, but definitely meant to annoy.

"Come on, block me." Eric demanded as his other hand shot out. Audrey threw her upper body backwards, but was too slow to fully avoid his hand, having just his fingers grazing her cheek. "Try harder."

"You know Eric, I don't think you're going to significantly increase my reflexes in a single hour before training." Audrey spat through gritted teeth.

"Probably not, but it's a good bit of fun to try." He replied with a smirk. Another light slap, to the forehead this time. Audrey tried to throw her arm up to block but failed. Eric could see the irritation growing, it was written all over her face. Her nostrils flared, eyes narrowed, and he swore he could hear her teeth grinding slightly. His hand flew out once more, her left cheek his target. This time however, instead of attempting to block him, Audrey snapped.

"YOU SON OF A-" She yelled out, enraged, as she tackled him backwards onto the ground. Her hands gripped his T-shirt roughly until his back hit the ground. Though Eric had been caught off guard by her tackle, he quickly recovered and grabbed both her wrists and pried her hands off his shirt. He forced her arms behind her back and held both her wrists in one hand. If anyone were to stumble upon this scene, they would no doubt make very sexual assumptions, with Audrey straddling his lap and Eric essentially pinning her against his chest. Not to mention his free hand finding itself on her hip.

"Tsk tsk Initiate, temper." Eric reproached, amused.

"Like you're one to talk!" Audrey struggled as she tried to pull her wrists away from him, with no success. His one-handed grip was much stronger than she'd anticipated.

"Well when my temper flares, I at least have the skills to back it up, rather than making myself look like a fool." He was making fun of her, and looked far too pleased with himself. All Audrey wanted to do was to smack that smirk off his face.

"Are you going to let me go or what?" The words giving away her injured pride.

"I don't think so. I'm quite comfortable like this." His smugness irritated Audrey to no end, but she couldn't quite get herself to argue with him on that point. She was trying her hardest to ignore their current position, not wanting to do anything stupid that she would regret later. It was increasingly difficult to ignore his crotch directly under hers, however.

"I could get out of this if I wanted to Eric. All I'd have to do would be to throw my head into your nose, or my knee between her legs. I could bite your ear off…" She trailed off, her eyes drifting to other places she could bite, like his neck, and jaw, collarbones…. _FOCUS AUDREY!_ She mentally yelled at herself.

"Why don't you then?" The challenge in his tone was obvious.

"I don't want you to bleed all over me. Now, do you mine?"

"Hey, you're the one that tackled me. Perhaps you should get yourself out of the situation you put yourself in." Audrey hated the tone he was using. Like he was talking to a pathetic child. Clearly he expected her to struggle a bit more with her wrists, maybe try flipping them over by throwing her weight to one side, or something equally ineffective. So instead, she gave him a smile before throwing her head into his face, as far up on her forehead as possible so she wouldn't knock herself out in the process. The second she connected with his nose, he let go of her wrists and threw her off him.

"YOU. FUCKING. BITCH." Audrey had to admit, his rage was very well controlled, considering how much pain he was probably in at the moment. He'd sat up, pinching his nose to stop the bleeding. Audrey on the other hand had stood up and backed away from him, knowing being in arm's reach of him right now was not a good idea. His eyes snapped to hers, ferocious and threatening. "I suggest you start running now, because if I catch you, you're going to end up in the infirmary." His words were controlled, but the threat behind them was very real, and sent shivers down her spine. The fear in the pit of her stomach did not keep her from busting out laughing however. With her hands on her knees, she laughed uncontrollably until tears formed in her eyes.

"You know," Eric started, slowly getting to his feet while glaring at her. "I'm glad you find this funny," He sniffed hard, trying to get air through his blood coated nostrils. "because the reaction you're having right now is the same others will have when they look at your face for the next 2 weeks." Eric suddenly reached out to grab her, but she managed to throw herself back fast enough to just barely escape his grasp. Immediately, she sprinted towards the door of the training room, barely able to keep her laughing under control. She didn't doubt his threats for one second, but there was something so damn funny about the situation. She had told him she could headbutt him. Literally told him flat out, it had been the first thing on her list of ways to escape him! Clearly, he had underestimated her. Or, had considered her to be smart enough to NOT injure someone in his position of power. Either way, he'd been wrong…

When Audrey ran out of the training room as fast as her legs would take her, she'd sworn she had heard Eric half growl menacingly and then the sound of his boots chasing her, but she didn't look back to check. She headed straight for the dorm, where the rest of the initiates would be just starting to wake up, not slowing for a second.

* * *

Four had been up for hours, and yet wasn't able to rub the sleep out of his eyes fully. He made his way down the hall towards the cafeteria, a mug of coffee in hand that he was quietly sipping from. Just as he was about to step from one hall into another, a flash ran past him. He'd barely recognized the blur as Audrey. Why she appeared to be running for her life in the middle of the compound so early in the morning, he had no clue. Taking a look up the hall from where she came, he saw nothing. He took another sip of coffee.

"Strange girl…" Four resumed his walking.

* * *

When Audrey arrived at the dorm, she was breathing so hard Henry thought she was going to throw up.

"Uhhh, care to explain this?" He asked her, his hand on her shoulder as she bent over, clutching the cramp in her side. Though unable to form any words, she just shook her head at him.

Now that she was relatively safe, she realized the full situation. How had it gone from suggestive comments to him practically threatening her life? Eric had already not liked her, and she'd just busted his nose…How stupid could she be? Of course, Eric couldn't tell anyone what happened. Mostly because he wouldn't want anyone knowing an initiate had landed a blow, but also because that would arise questions as to why he was training her privately when she clearly wasn't falling behind in training. Due to this, he couldn't outright punish her. But Audrey knew, with every cell in her body, that he was going to get her back. He would make her life absolute hell, she was sure of it.

* * *

 **That's it for now! Don't forget to leave a quick review on your way out.**


End file.
